Indoor Cycling at Clayton Community Centre
Clayton Community Centre’s state-of-the-art indoor cycling studio offers the perfect solution to alleviate stress this month and into the new year.
It’s the holiday season! And while the merry bells keep ringing, so too do the howling sirens of seasonal stress. It’s an epidemic that affects us all; between the planning, the baking, the gifting and the partaking, yuletide pressures can stack up quickly, taking a considerable toll on our health if we’re not careful. Fortunately–short of booking a one-way ticket to a beachside destination–there are practical (and less costly) solutions to help mitigate stress this holiday season in your own backyard.
Whether you’re an avid cyclist transitioning indoors for winter, a group fitness enthusiast who enjoys guided workouts or a beginner exploring a new interest, indoor cycling has been growing in popularity as of late. That popularity led to the inclusion of a dedicated indoor cycling studio when Clayton Community Centre–one of Surrey’s newest recreation facilities–was constructed.
Adjacent to the fitness centre area on the upper floor at Clayton Community Centre (CCC), the bright and spacious studio is equipped with 16 state-of-the-art Stages SC3 Indoor Bikes and a large display screen at the front of the room. The screen displays real-time individual feedback that helps riders track progression and optimize their workout within their own capabilities. One of the bikes sits atop an elevated platform at the front of the studio; it’s where qualified instructors guide their classes amid a backdrop of motivational music.
The new studio incorporates an impressive amount of technology, providing insights into a variety of participant metrics. Some of that trackable data includes your power output, revolutions per minute and power zone.
Power output–tracked by a power meter attached to the bike’s left pedal–is a product of force (the amount of resistance on the flywheel) and velocity (the speed of the pedals); a rider’s power output increases as these attributes rise. Power provides a quantitative number that tells the rider exactly how much effort is being expended.
Within each class, instructors coach participants through a brief test to determine their individual best sustainable effort. From this test, the Stages system algorithm calculates the rider’s Functional Threshold Power (FTP)–the amount of power that the rider is theoretically capable of maintaining for exactly one hour. This test allows each participant to ride to their own ability and optimal power output on any given day. Once the FTP is determined, participants ride within seven different zones of power, each of which corresponds to a percentage of the individualized FTP and focuses on a different goal and physiological adaptation such as recovery, endurance, threshold power and more.
Participants can also utilize the StagesStudio+ app on their smartphones to further track their ride data. By simply linking their bike to the app at the beginning of class, participants receive a post-workout email detailing their average speed, distance travelled and more. Classes can be taken without using the app, though the app is useful to track progress across time.
Join a class
Indoor Power Cycling is currently offered on Monday and Wednesday evenings, and Thursday and Saturday mornings at Clayton Community Centre (schedule subject to change). On Monday mornings, a specialty rhythm riding class is offered that challenges pedal speed and agility.
Clayton Community Centre recently announced their new 10-week registered Progressive Indoor Power Cycling Program, which begins in January–allowing participants to continue lowering stress levels into 2023! Geared towards outdoor cyclists looking to remain active indoors over the winter and tune-up for the spring season, the program is designed to optimize pedal stroke, increase power output and improve overall cycling fitness. The new program is scheduled for Thursday evenings at 6:30pm, beginning on January 5, 2023.
Pedal your way to less stress and a healthier version of yourself this month through indoor cycling. After all, it’s the most wonderful time of the year!
Register now for Clayton Community Centre’s Indoor Power Cycling classes–as well as the new 10-week program beginning in January–online at surrey.ca/register, by phone 604-501-5100, or in person at any Surrey Recreation facility.